[bksvol-discuss] Re: Which books count toward the grant?

From: Debby Franson <the.bee@xxxxxxxxxxx>

To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:47:44 -0500

Hi Carrie!

I'm glad the choosing of books from volunteers will not change. It's nice
to share whatever we like to read, since, chances are others will find it
interesting as well, aside from what is going on on the "mother ship".

Debby
At 01:37 PM 10/28/2009, Carrie Karnos wrote

Hi Lori,

No, your question is not a dumb one. I'm hoping that the work of the
volunteers is not affected by the grant. I think it would be a great
disservice to the Bookshare community if everyone suddenly stopped
scanning romances and religious works, and focused on "educational" books.
We inhouse have to focus on "educational" books, and we're looking to the
volunteers to continue working on those books that we can't touch. Please
work on whatever books are of interest to YOU. If you prefer non-fiction,
that's great, your book will count. But if you prefer x-rated books or
romances or books with graphic violence or religious proselytizing tracts,
please continue scanning them since there are a lot of other people who
like to read them too.

One of Bookshare's greatest strengths is the fact that the collection is
self-selected. If there's a book someone wants to read, he can put it into
the collection. The percentage of self-selected books is going down of
course, but it's still the case that you can put in any book you want. And
per the CEO, it will remain that way ever more.

So please continue working on those books that you like, regardless of
what's going on here in the mother ship!

Any book written for children or teenagers is considered "educational".
We can all point to various children's books that really aren't
educational, but the whole point of defining "educational" is to avoid
having to look at each book that's in the collection and pass judgment on
it. Better to say if a book is in such-and-such category, then it is (or
isn't) educational.

Well, in one sense, EVERY book is educational because it teaches or shows
you something you didn't know before. But that doesn't help here, making
every book "educational," so we can throw that definition out.

It's difficult to know where to draw the line between educational and
non-educational. We've been discussing what an "educational" book
consists of, since we got the grant 2 years ago, and going round and
round and round about it. Now that the Feds have signed off on the
definition, we're going with it. No turning back.

No one has explained the logic of why genre fiction counts and romance
doesn't count to me, but maybe it's because most romances are very
formulaic, whereas there's a great variety of plots and situations in the
other genre categories. There are several romances that I've said were
educational, and of course all of Jane Austen's works are educational and
quite romantic. So there are exceptions to the rule.

Now the librarian has been tasked with coming up with a definition of a
"textbook". Here we go, round and round again! Whee!

I completely agree here, Roger. Yes, I am a romance fan, though I read
most of my romance from NLS, and my nonfiction from bookshare. Not really
sure why, but that's the way it is. Anyway, if thrillers, science
fiction, etc count why not romance. Romance is no more fictionalized than
any of these, and depending on the book, no more adult than any of these.

> I know that this sounds like an indignant question from a romance fan,
but I am not a romance fan. I am just a little stunned and surprised. If
thrillers, horror, mystery and science fiction are considered
educational then what the blue blazes is wrong with romance?

> A volunteer asked which books qualify for the grant, so I thought
maybe there are others who don't know about this either. This is a quick
email to the

> group, so everyone knows which books count.
>

> To explain this by what's excluded, all books qualify, except
romances, books that are adult content, and books that proselytize
religion. Factual books
> about religion are fine, since they explain what it's about, but books
that push agendas at you do not qualify. It doesn't matter where the book comes

> from - volunteers, outsourcers, publishers, or anywhere else.
>

> To explain this by what's included, all kiddie books (including teen
romances) are okay, most non-fiction is okay, "good" literature is okay,
and finally,
> at long last, a decision was made, and it was decided that genre
fiction is okay. So books that are mysteries, thrillers, Westerns,
historical fiction,
> science fiction, fantasies, and horror are okay too. But the minute
you add romance to any of the adult genre fiction books, the book
doesn't count towards

> the grant.
>

> Of course, there will always be edge cases. We look at those books on
a case-by-case basis, and sometimes ask the Bookshare librarian for a decision.

>

> I would encourage those people who are scanning and proofing romances
to continue to do so. We at the office can't put any in, since all of
our time has
> to go towards fulfilling the grant. But there are lots and lots of
people who like romance and want to see more of it in the collection.
Please continue
> to put romances in! The Bookshare publisher liaison mentioned that
while most of the book markets dropped when the economy dropped, the
romance market

Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don't have. Just dreaming
about nice things is meaningless; it is like chasing the
wind.--Ecclesiastes 6:9 NLT

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